6.  At the time of the events in question, Hyde Park was registered with the Moldovan Ministry of Justice as a non-governmental organisation lobbying, inter alia, for freedom of expression and the right to free assembly. In 2007 its members decided to discontinue registration on grounds of alleged pressure and intimidation from the State. In particular, they complained of the refusal of the Ministry of Justice to register amendments to the organisation's articles of association, the repeated freezing of its bank account, arbitrary arrest of its members, attempts to shut down its newspaper and other such interferences. Several of the organisation's leaders requested political asylum in western countries and it was decided to continue the activity under the same name but without being registered with the State authorities. It was also decided that the new unincorporated association would become the former organisation's successor. After the striking of the organisation out of the Government's list of non-governmental organisations, on 2 June 2008, Hyde Park's activity continued on the basis of new articles of association and all the activities were carried on. The association continued editing its newspaper and its internet page and continued staging protests and demonstrations.
7.  On 23 July 2007 Hyde Park applied to the Municipal Council of Chişinău for authorisation to stage a protest on 30 August 2007 in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office against alleged acts of harassment of Hyde Park by those bodies.
8.  On 20 August 2007 the Municipal Council authorised the protest, to be staged on 30 August 2007 in front of the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs between 7.30 a.m. and 8.15 a.m. and in front of the Prosecutor General's Office between 8.15 a.m. and 9 a.m. at a distance of at least fifty metres from the buildings.
9.  On 30 August 2007, at 7.30 a.m., the applicants started their protest in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs but were immediately approached by a police officer who ordered them to stop the protest because the Municipality's authorisation had been challenged by the Prosecutor General's Office in court on 29 August 2007. The police officer argued that according to the Law on the Prosecutor's Office, the prosecutor's appeal against an administrative act suspended the latter's action until after a court examined it. The applicants refused to comply and argued that the authorisation was valid and that their protest was peaceful. They relied on the provisions of the Constitution of Moldova and on the Convention. Shortly thereafter a police van arrived and Mr Ghenadie Brega, Mr Oleg Brega, Mr Hristea-Stan and Mr Juraveli were arrested and taken to a police station where they were questioned. At approximately 9.30 a.m. they were released without explanation. They could not continue their protest because the time indicated in the authorisation had lapsed.
10.  The same day a criminal complaint was lodged against the police officers who carried out the arrests; however, the complaint was dismissed by the head of the police station of the Centru District on 19 September 2007 on the ground that the authorisation contained numerous flaws such as a failure to indicate the exact place of the protest and the number of participants.
11.  It appears that the Prosecutor Office's appeal against the Municipality's authorisation of 20 August 2007 has never been examined by the courts.
12.  On 30 August 2007 Mr Juraveli, the vice-president of Hyde Park, applied to the Municipality for an authorisation to stage a protest in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor's Office between 4 and 11 September 2007 against the allegedly abusive suppression of its peaceful protest of the same date. In the application he indicated that ten persons were to participate in the demonstration and gave his name and those of Mr Oleg Brega and Mr Hristea-Stan as those responsible for the conduct of the demonstration.
13.  The Municipality did not adopt a decision in respect of the application before the first date of the planned demonstration, on 4 September 2007. Therefore, at 9 a.m. that day the applicants started their protest in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At 9.25 a.m. Ghenadie Brega, Oleg Brega and a Hyde Park member who is not an applicant were arrested on the ground that the demonstration had not been authorised. They were taken to a police station where they were body searched and kept for approximately five hours. According to the applicants the police examined and made copies of their documents including personal letters. Two of them were placed in cages and later in cells. Later they were taken to the Centru District Court and, since the hearing was adjourned, they were released at 3 p.m.
14.  On 21 September 2007 the Centru District Court examined the charges against the applicants. The applicants argued that since the Municipality had failed to examine their application for authorisation before the date of the demonstration, they had the right to hold the demonstration in accordance with section 12(5) of the Assemblies Act. Moreover, they submitted that they had been told by a representative of the local authorities that the Municipality did not have time to deal with their request and that they could hold their protest as planned. The court dismissed the applicants' submissions and found that they had breached the provision of section 11(1) of the Assemblies Act by failing to submit the application within fifteen days in advance of the planned assembly. According to the court, the protest should have been held on 14 September 2007 at the earliest. Ghenadie and Oleg Brega were found guilty of organising an unauthorised demonstration and fined 800 Moldovan lei (MDL) each (approximately 48 euros (EUR)). Another Hyde Park member who is not applicant in the present case was fined MDL 200. The applicants' appeal was dismissed by the Chişinău Court of Appeal on the same grounds on 23 October 2007.
15.  In the meantime, on 7 September 2007, the Municipality examined the application of 30 August 2007 (see paragraph 12 above) and issued an authorisation to organise and stage a protest in front of the buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office between 8 and 11 September 2007 to Mr Juraveli.
16.  In the morning of 10 September 2007 several members of Hyde Park started to protest in front of the buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office; however, several minutes later the police arrived and arrested three persons (Mr Juraveli, Mr Oleg Brega and Mr Hristea-Stan) on the ground that the authorisation did not contain the names of all the persons involved in the protest. The Government maintained that they had been detained for breach of the peace and for having shouted insults about the Minister for Internal Affairs. At the police station those arrested were questioned and searched. They were released after five hours. The applicants maintained that, while detained, they were not allowed to make any telephone calls or to contact a lawyer.
17.  The police filed administrative proceedings against the arrested persons; however, on 21 September 2007 the Centru District Court decided to discontinue the proceedings.
18.  On 5 September 2007, Mr Oleg Brega wrote to the Prosecutor General making a criminal complaint in respect of the actions of the police at the demonstrations of 30 August and 4 September. A further letter to that effect was sent on 10 January 2008. The applicants maintain that they did not receive an official response to either letter.